The Fragileness of a Child
by soccergirl489
Summary: Miley developes an eating disorder.
1. Chapter 1

**Shit don't do it Miley, don't do it!**

_Shit don't do it Miley, don't do it!! Be strong, be strong! No, I want it so bad please please please can't I just have one piece? No!! You have done so well this entire day, you haven't had any mess ups and you want to just give up and ruin it now? You know what; you are never going to make it anyway! You might as well just have the piece and get fat, oh wait you already are fat! So, go ahead, Miley, eat it and become a huge whale! Wait, no I don't want to be a whale, but I have done so well today! I mean, don't I deserve just a little reward, don't I?_

And that was all that Miley Ray Stewart needed to convince herself to have that single piece of Double Bubble Gum that Lilly was waving in front of her face. And just like that, Miley took the piece, her mouth already salivating from the thought of getting to taste that sweet sugar, and plopped it in her mouth.

Miley chuckled. If only Oliver could see her now! Poor Oliver, the boy was terrified of chewing gum and Miley, dressed up as Hannah Montana and trying to get Oliver to stop crushing on Hannah Montana, had chewed piece after piece of gum in front of his face! And now look at Miley! It took her at least a minute to decide if she wanted a piece of gum! What was wrong with her? Oh wait; she was a tub of lard.

"Miley, are you okay? You seem kind of out of it." Lilly, already on her fourth piece of gum, asked as she plopped onto the Stewart's couch.

"Uh-uh-I-I-um…" It was at this moment that Miley remembered Lilly had no idea what kind of mind war she had just been through; Miley's mind was surging forward at full pace, but Miley's mouth never ounce moved.

"And seriously Miles, since when did gum become so funny?"

At this Miley smiled. Lilly, without knowing it, had given her an easy escape and Miley gratefully accepted it.

"I was just remembering the time I told Oliver that I was Hannah Montana! You know how I chewed all that gum and then spit it out on him. Of course, there was the fainting spell after, but that's beside the point."

Lilly started laughing so hard she nearly choked on her gum. "Oh my gosh! Oliver had chunks of gum in his hair for weeks!"

"I know! Remember when Oliver found the first chunk in his hair at school?!" Miley giggled as she grabbed her stomach, unable to breathe at the memory of Oliver freaking out and jumping around like a circus monkey while trying to get the gum out with a pair of scissors.

"Oh my gosh! And they had to call his mom to come and pick him up and take him to the hair dressers because his hair looked so bad after he cut out the chunks! Oliver was traumatized for weeks!" Lilly managed to get out as she gasped for air.

"Lilly! Stop! I can't breathe!" Miley cried out as she rolled onto the floor, tears springing to her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Sweet Nibblets! What in the Sam heck is going on in here?" Robbie Ray Stewart asked as he came in the front door carrying a bag of groceries.

"Oliver-"  
"Gum-"  
"Hair!" The girls managed to spit out before they doubled up in a new round of hysterics.

"Robbie Ray, you had to ask!" Robbie Ray joked as he made his way to the kitchen. "So, girls I'm making my famous pancakes! Lilly you wanna stay for dinner?"

_Dinner! Oh no, that was something I completely forgot about! I can't let Lilly stay over to eat dinner if I was already planning on telling Daddy I was just going to eat dinner over at Lilly's house in the first place! Crap! What the heck, does no one care that I'm on a diet! Oh yeah no one knows, gosh Miley think once in a while! Okay! I am thinking! Now, what do I do! Ah, what do I do?! Think think think! Oh! I'll say we are already going to eat at Oliver's and then I'll figure Lilly out later! Perfect Miley, you still got it!_

"Actually dad w-"

"I would love to stay for dinner! Thanks Mr. Stewart! I love your pancakes!" Lilly enthusiastically replied as she walked over to help set the table.

No one noticed that Miley's laughter had abruptly come to a halt. No one noticed that Miley had become completely unresponsive and was just staring ahead at the blank TV. No one noticed anything.

As soon as Lilly left, Miley ran upstairs without even offering to help clean up the dishes. Miley didn't have time for small talk with her dad or Jackson about how their days went or other pointless questions.

Miley was fat, really fat. She could feel the fat building on itself as she locked her door and quietly took off her top. Miley tiptoed across her room and closed her eyes. Her baby blue mirror was right in front of her, but she wasn't sure she could face the reflection she knew would be staring back at her.

Miley had pretended to not be hungry at dinner, but then Lilly wondered how that could be possible when they hadn't had something to eat since lunch four hours before. Miley knew her daddy would become suspicious if she continued to say she wasn't hungry, so she reluctantly agreed to have ONE pancake.

But, as soon as the pancake touched Miley's lips, she never slowed down. It wasn't until she had downed the third pancake that Miley realized how hungry she was. Truth be told, Miley hadn't had anything other than a few sticks of celery and a diet coke that day; oh, and how could she forget the piece of gum she had earlier with Lilly. The more Miley thought about it, the more she realized how little she had eaten in the last few weeks. And this made Miley feel good, really good.

But then just as quickly that feeling disappeared as Miley passed some gas. Tonight she had screwed up and now she was going to pay the price for it in the morning. Miley would up her morning run to 8 miles, which meant she would have to get up even earlier tomorrow morning. Miley scolded herself as she realized that meant she would have to be extra quiet so she wouldn't wake up her daddy or Jackson.

It wasn't that her daddy didn't approve of her working out, it was just Miley knew he would become worried if he realized his daughter was working out in the morning before school and also after school when she didn't have a Hannah thing.

Hannah Montana. Sometimes Miley hated being Hannah Montana. If it wasn't for Hannah, Miley wouldn't have to worry so much about anyone noticing she was continuing to lose weightand she had already lost a ton of weight, more than she should have, which made Miley smile for a moment.

Miley loved the fact that she could feel her ribs and hipbones when she lay in bed at night praising herself for how well she had done that day with her eating or lack there of. Miley had already had to replace all her clothes once and when her dad asked her if she was on a diet, Miley had innocently replied that it was baby fat finally going away. Robbie Ray had accepted this answer without thinking twice about it and Miley gave all her old clothes away to Goodwill.

At first, Miley loved showing off her new body. When she sat down, there wasn't a bulge and her arms were thin enough that she felt comfortable wearing t-shirts and halter tops to school. And Miley even swore that the guys noticed her more.

But, after a while the good feelings disappeared, and the original compliments of how good she looked stop coming. Miley knew this meant she had to loose more weight. And the more Miley looked in the mirror, the uglier and fatter she became. In Miley's eyes, she was gaining weight not loosing it.

Miley was scared and worried that she would never be skinny and beautiful again. She had spent many nights crying herself to sleep and wishing her momma was still alive and while she thought no one could hear her, Jackson and her daddy did night after night and it pained the two of them. However, when the two of them asked Miley what was wrong in the morning, she would just mumble something about her momma and the subject was dropped.

Everyone had noticed a change in Miley, but no one could pinpoint what exactly had caused the change. It was as if the "real" Miley had died or gone into hiding and all that was left was a shell of the girl everyone had loved and cared about; a shell that occasionally came to life only to retreat within a few minutes.

Miley would usually respond when talked too, but she never said more than was necessary. Lilly had tried everything she could think of to get Miley to talk to her, like really talk, but all her attempts had failed. Lilly finally had backed off a little when Miley hugged her after a day of shopping had resulted in Lilly doing all the talking. Lilly figured that when Miley was ready to talk, she would; all Lilly could do at this point was show Miley how much she cared for her and how she would always be there for her.

Over the course of the last few months, Miley had cut out more and more food from her diet until she was only eating celery. The results came quickly and once Miley started cutting out food, she never looked back. Everything was working out perfect for Miley, except the Hannah thing.

Miley had started protesting the tight clothes she had to wear during concerts. She told her daddy that she didn't like the message she was sending to little girls that tight clothes were the only way to be cool. And amazingly enough, her daddy bought what she was saying. So for the time being Miley was safe wearing baggy pants with a big skirt over them and layer after layer of baggy tops. The coolest part was that the critics loved Hannah Montana's new style! And as for school, no one really noticed or necessarily cared what Miley wore to school.

There was just one other small problem. Miley wanted to lose at least another ten pounds. Which meant that pretty soon people were going to start noticing that Hannah was getting way to skinny, which would not be good for her role model status.

So Miley was constantly worrying about how to hide Hannah from the critics as well as trying to loose more weight so she would feel beautiful again.

Still standing in front of the mirror, Miley silently sucked in her tummy and counted to ten before she slowly opened her eyes. As soon as Miley saw her reflection staring back at her, she began to cry. She was right, she had gained weight because of those stupid pancakes! And now she would never be perfect again! Miley's life was over!

But the tears that were silently rolling down her face quickly stopped when she heard someone coming up the stairs. Miley made a dash for the door to unlock it (she was only allowed to lock it if a mad stalker found out she was Hannah Montana and broke into the house), hitting her leg on the side of her night stand, causing something to fall and shatter. As swear words ran through her head, Miley switched the lock, grabbed her bathrobe and threw it around her as she opened her door.

"Hey Jackson! Do you have any toothpaste in your bathroom? I'm all out!" Miley said in a rush as she shut her bedroom door behind her.

Jackson could tell something was off with Miley, her eyes were kind of puffy like she had been crying. His heart sank at the site of his little sister trying to hide her pain and the fact that she had been crying. Jackson almost asked her if she was okay, but he already knew the answer was "I'm fine." So instead, Jackson gave a simple "go for it" and closed his bedroom door.

Miley let out a sign of relief. She thought it was her dad coming up to check on her or give her a lecture about why she didn't help clean up after dinner. Miley was safe. Without even bothering to brush her teeth, Miley went back into her room and slipped off her jeans, getting ready for bed; she didn't think she could stand looking at herself in her bathroom mirror. Her stomach was still bloated and the fat was still settling in around it.

When she went to get in bed, Miley realized what had fallen off the night stand. It was the picture of her momma, only now the frame was shattered and that was all Miley needed to set her off crying again. Not only was she fat, but her momma was dead too. Miley felt like the shattered glass surrounding her momma's picture.

Miley picked up the photo and crawled into her bed, her tears soaking through her PJ's. She gave her momma a kiss goodnight and carefully set the photo underneath her pillow; she needed her mommy tonight. And just as Miley was about to turn out the light, she felt a throbbing pain in her leg.

As Miley pulled back the covers, she saw a huge red mark covering the lower part of her leg. Miley had forgotten she had hit her leg when she was running to unlock the door. That was going to leave a mark. In recent weeks Miley had noticed that she bruised really easily and was beginning to get worried about that.

Pushing her thoughts about bruises aside, Miley kissed her leg making her miss her momma even more. When she was younger her momma always kissed her cuts and bruises to make her feel better.

And as the tears continued to fall, Miley finally turned off the light, descending into a light and restless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Come on Miley!_**

_Come on Miley! Push it, push it! Can't you go any faster? For God's sake girl! What is wrong with you? Do you want to get fat? I told you not to put that teaspoon of peanut butter on that celery stick yesterday, did I not? And now you're paying the price for it! 10 more minutes of sprinting and if you so much as slow down for one second, you will start all over! You will not let that peanut butter make you any fatter than you already are, do you understand me? Yeah, okay I got it, but I'm getting a little dizzy is all and I can't breathe. Well you should have thought of that before you had the peanut butter! Fine, I'm going, I'm going!_

Miley used to love running before she started making herself run at least 6 miles every day. She used to love the way the sun grazed her body and her feet ran in synch with the beat of whatever music she was listening too. But, the music had long since died out and now it was just Miley and well Miley. She would not allow herself the luxury of music when she was so fat.

Somehow, even though she felt faint, Miley made it back to her house without having to start her sprint over. This made Miley smile; it really was mind over matter.

But the smile quickly disappeared when Miley realized her dad was up early and already making breakfast in the kitchen. There was no way Miley could walk in there and get away with working out in the morning when she had dance rehearsals for a Hannah Montana after school. Robbie Ray already thought Miley exercised too much, and this morning excursion would only solidify his worries.

Miley had to think fast. The paper! Her daddy hadn't gotten the paper yet! Perfect! When Robbie Ray went out the front door to get it, Miley would sneak through the back door and no one would hear a thing, well except maybe Jackson. But, knowing him he probably wouldn't be up for another half hour.

As soon as Robbie Ray shut the front door, Miley quietly opened the back door and tip toed up stairs. Realizing Jackson's door was still shut, Miley let out a sigh of relief. She had made it and no one suspected a thing! Now all Miley had to do was make it through the school day.

* * *

"Miley! MILEY! EARTH TO MILEY!" Lilly yelled as she tried to get her best friends attention who was presently staring off into space.

"Wha-what? Oh, sorry Lilly. What were you saying?" Miley hugged her stomach, which would not stop growling, as she looked at Lilly. Crap, Lilly looked worried.

"I said are you sure you aren't hungry? Your stomach is louder than Oliver's chewing and that's saying something!"

"Hey! It is not!"

"Oliver."

"K fine, maybe it is." Oliver replied with resignation and a brief look of sadness,

Which quickly faded when he realized he still had his double fudge chocolate brownie to eat.

Oliver's pure child like behavior caused Miley to giggle, which surprised all of them. Miley hadn't laughed or let alone smiled at school in weeks, mainly because all Miley could think about was how all the other kids were staring at how fat she was. Being fat was not something Miley found joyful.

"You-you-you-you-" Oliver stammered, half-eaten brownie bits falling out of his mouth.

"I think what Oliver is trying to say," Lilly said as she glared at Oliver, "is that you smiled for the first time in like forever at school!"

"Yeah, I did. And to think all I had to do was look at Oliver!" Miley continued in the playful self that neither Lilly nor Oliver got to see enough of anymore.

"Hey!" Oliver replied, happiness filling his eyes at the thought of his best friend coming back to the world.

But as usual, as soon as the "real" Miley appeared, she was gone again. Miley knew that she was hurting her friends, but she didn't have time to be who they wanted her to be. Her stomach was going hay-wire and she was turning into a big tub of lard. Miley did not have enough time to be the girl she used to be, and the world was just going to have to except that.

Before Lilly or Oliver could say anything else, Miley stood up and grabbed her backpack.

"_Ohmygoshguys!Icompletelyforgot!Ricosaidhewouldhelpmestudyforthebiology_

_testthisFriday!Ihavetogofindhimbeforehekillsme!"_

"In the words of you: crazy fast talking best friend say what?" Lilly questioned Miley as she looked up at her best friend.

"I just gotta go. I'll-uh-I'll see you guys later!" And with that Miley ran out of the lunch room so fast she nearly crashed into Sara.

"Okay, I may be a guy, but what is going on with her?" Oliver turned to Lilly, puzzlement etched all over his face.

"I have no idea! All I got out of that was Rico, study and test." Lilly responded.

"Yeah, well that's really strange."

"Why?"

"Because Rico is over there with Jackson." Oliver stated, pointing to the far end of the lunch room where sure enough, Rico was making crazy hand gestures and shouting at an annoyed looking Jackson.

"I know she won't talk to us, but do you think we should talk to Mr. Stewart of Jackson. Like, maybe we should tell them we are worried about her because before she just seemed like she had a lot on her mind, but now she is lying and ditching us! I don't understand, Oliver! Why doesn't she want to be with us?" Lilly was on the verge of tears now.

"I have no idea, but maybe you're right. I mean, it can't do any harm. And besides, Mr. S. will definitely know what to do. He's like the best dad on the planet!" Oliver excitedly said as he pulled Lilly into a comforting hug. "Don't worry Lilly. She is probably just really stressed with school and Hannah Montana. She'll be okay, I promise."

"Yeah, I guess. Okay, so how about today after school we go over and talk to them. Miley has rehearsals for a Hannah concert and Jackson doesn't work until 5. We'll meet at our lockers after 7th?"

"Cool. See ya in PE. I have to go get more food! I'm starving!"

"Oliver!" Lilly laughed as he made a dash for the lunch line. Lilly was still worried about Miley, but she felt better knowing that she and Oliver were going to talk to Mr. Stewart and Jackson after school. Lilly made a mental note to give Miley a big hug during PE to remind her that Lilly was there for her. There was just one thing, Miley never showed up for PE.

* * *

Miley couldn't breathe, let alone think. She slammed the bathroom door shut, put the toilet seat down and brought her knees up to her chest, embracing herself in a hug she so badly needed. She couldn't keep this up! She was starving and her friends were worried about her.

The truth was, Miley was scared. Bruises kept popping up everywhere when all she had done was hit her arm on her locker door or hit the edge of a desk with her hip. Before, there was never a bruise, but now big purple and blue splotches showed up at the slightest touch to Miley's body; which was why Miley had stopped wearing skirts and t-shirts. She couldn't worry everyone even more with all the bruises. It was at this moment that Miley realized something.

_Oh shit! I can't go to PE!! People will see all the bruises and then Lilly will definitely freak out on me and what if she made me go to the nurse! OMG the nurse would know immediately that I'm not eating. That's like the number one rule of starving yourself; avoid nurses and doctors because they always know. Shit! I'm dead, I'm actually dead. K pull yourself together here Miley. I know, I'll just skip PE. Yes, brilliant Miley girl! You rock! K I can do this, I can do this, I Miley Ray Stewart can totally do this. Okay, I'm okay now._

Miley heard the bell signaling the end of lunch and silently got off the toilet. She picked up her bag and made her way over to the sink to wash her hands; she hated how bathrooms always had so many germs. As Miley put her hands under the warm water, she looked at her reflection in the mirror, but quickly wished she hadn't. Her face was so bloated; it looked like she had five chins!

"Oh momma" Miley whimpered, "what's happened to me?"

Miley's heart was pounding as she dried off her hands, and she was pretty sure her pulse was above 180. Miley couldn't be here. She couldn't be in this school, she couldn't be at home; she was suffocating.

Miley raced for the door and sprinted down the now empty hallways, her shoes echoing off the lockers. Miley pushed open the door and ran into the sunshine and kept running. She didn't know where she was going but she just knew she couldn't be at school or home.

The sun felt good on Miley's face and made the goose bumps covering her body go away. That was another thing Miley had noticed. She was always cold. No matter how many shirts and jackets she put on, she was cold. But it was spring, not winter.

Eventually, Miley began to feel faint. She slowed down and was surprised to find herself on the beach. Miley smiled, as bad as she felt, she loved the beach. It wasn't until Miley sat down in the warm sand, that she realized she was still dizzy. Miley was frightened. All the other times she had felt faint she was fine once she sat down for a moment. But this time, Miley's eye sight was beginning to go blurry and her head was pounding. Miley's world was spinning, and the next thing she knew, she was engulfed in a world of darkness.

* * *

Lilly was worried. No scratch that. Lilly was terrified. Miley hadn't shown up for gym or math and when she had asked Sara if Miley was in history, Sara had said no. Something was really wrong because Miley had never skipped class once. By the time Lilly met Oliver after school, Lilly was near hysterics.

"Lilly calm down. I'm sure Miley just felt sick and decided to go home early, you saw how pale she was at lunch." Oliver tried to convince Lilly and himself as they walked to the Stewart's house.

But Lilly wasn't buying it and truthfully, neither was Oliver. Miley's behavior was getting weirder and weirder by the day. Miley never lied and she never cut class. Both Lilly and Oliver decided to remain optimistic as they talked to the Stewart's though because they didn't want to worry them too much.

"Hey Mr. Stewart!" Lilly and Oliver cheerfully said as they walked into the Stewart's kitchen.

"Oh hey guys! I'm trying to decide between pancakes and steak for dinner tonight! Which do y'all think I should go with?" Robbie Ray chuckled as he looked through his cookbook.

"Pancakes!" Both Lilly and Oliver said at the same time.

"Pancakes it is then!" Robbie Ray laughed as he heard Lilly and Oliver's response. "Hey, do you guys want to stay for dinner?"

"Actually, Mr. Stewart we're kind of here to talk about Miley." Lilly said quietly as she and Oliver took a seat in the chairs surrounding the island with the stove on it.

"Oh well, y'all know that Miley won't be home until later. She has a Hannah thing." Robbie Ray continued as he put some cookies on a plate and set them down in front of Lilly and Oliver.

"Yeah, uh we know. Tha's why-" Oliver started before being cut off by an extremely excited Jackson.

"DAD! You are not going to believe who just got a date with the hottest girl in school! Yeah, me. ME!! Sweet doggies am I good or what! Hey! Cookies!"

"That's great son, but I ain't paying for-Jackson slow down there boy!"

"And I'm the pig" Oliver whispered to Lilly and Jackson finished off the last cookie on the plate.

"OLIVER!"

"Okay! Fine, I'm shutting it!" Oliver said as he put his hands up in defeat.

"Anyway, we know Miley isn't here which is why we wanted to talk to you now." Lilly started again once Jackson quieted down.

"Well this can't be good." Jackson joked as he went to get some milk from the fridge.

"Jackson!" Robbie Ray warned his son.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. So what about Miley?" Jackson said as he settled into a chair next to Lilly and Oliver.

"It's just… she hasn't been herself lately. And we think something is really wrong. Like today, she lied, LIED, to us and said she had to get biology help from Rico during lunch, but then Rico was over with Jackson." Lilly explained as Robbie Ray and even Jackson started to look anxious. It was Oliver who spoke up next.

"And we don't want to get Miley in trouble, but she kind of cut all her classes after lunch today-"

"WHAT!!" Robbie Ray shouted as an equally surprised Jackson spit out the milk he was drinking.

"We haven't seen her since lunch actually. We don't know what to do because she won't talk to us and she just seems really troubled. We thought you might know what to do." Lilly continued.

Now Robbie Ray was really worried because while both he and Jackson and noticed a change in Miley, they hadn't realized just how much she had changed.

"Well thanks for telling us this you two, and the truth is we have noticed Miley has been really weird lately. And I hate to disappoint the two of you, but we don't know what to do either. Actually, I'm thinking I might make her go talk to a therapist because that really helped when her mom first died." Robbie Ray said as he tapped his fingers on the table, trying to figure out what was wrong with his little girl.

"Yeah," Jackson agreed, "That really did help her."

It felt like all the air in the room had been sucked out at the mention of the death of Miley and Jackson's mom. And almost immediately Lilly and Oliver regretted ever bringing Miley up because it clearly pained both Mr. Stewart and Jackson.

"We are really sorry to-" Lilly tried to say as Mr. Stewarts phone rang. Mr. Stewart mouthed an apology as he answered his cell.

"Oh, hey Roxy! How are the rehearsals going? She what? What do you mean she's not there? Okay, yeah no she never came home. Oh my god- um how fast can you get here? Alright I'll see you then." Mr. Stewart hung up and was greeted by three terrified faces.

"Dad, what's going on? Where's Miley?" Poor Jackson could hardly talk he was so concerned for his baby sister.

"I-I don't know. She didn't show up to rehearsals. She was supposed to meet Roxy after school, but when she didn't, Roxy figured we had given her a ride, so she went to the studio. But, Miley wasn't there. Miley isn't there. Oh lord… Okay, this is what we are going to do. Lilly, Oliver I want you two to look for her around the school. Jackson you stay here and call everyone you can think of and have Roxy help you when she gets here. I'm going to go look down at Rico's and along the beach. If we can't find her in two hours, I'll call the police."

As soon as Robbie Ray finished giving directions, everyone sprung into action. No one could figure out why Miley had simply disappeared and no one, especially Robbie Ray, was going to let her fade away. Everyone needed Miley more than she knew.

As Robbie Ray searched the beach, he began to panic. Rico said he hadn't seen Miley, but he would keep an eye out for her and call Jackson if he saw did. Nobody knew where Miley was and Robbie Ray could not lose another member of his family.

Robbie Ray choked back tears as he continued to scan the beach for any signs of his little girl. Images of Miley lying in a ditch or being beaten ran through Robbie Ray's mind and caused his knees to buckle. He could not lose his little girl.

It was at this point that Robbie Ray started asking his wife to look out for their baby girl and to keep her safe. Robby Ray hadn't prayed since his wife died, but he found himself doing it right now for Miley. _Please God, give me back my daughter._

And then he saw her. She was laying in the sand with her shoes off and school bag by her side. She looked like a little angel and for a second, Robbie Ray thought she was dead. But then he saw her chest move up and down and he let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. His little girl was safe.

Robbie Ray ran up to Miley and gently shook her. He could tell she had been crying from the way her eyes were all puffy and red. Since when had his little girl become so sad?

"Miles-hey bud you gotta wake up. Come on baby girl, please wake up for me." Robbie Ray said as he tenderly shook Miley's shoulder.

At first, Miley didn't know what was going on. She could feel the warmth of someone's hand on her shoulder and as she came to she realized who it was.

"Daddy?" Miley half whispered, half whimpered.

At the sound of his name, Robbie Ray smiled. She was okay, his baby girl was okay.

"Daddy my head hurts so bad." Miley continued as she regained some strength.

"I know bud, I know. Let's get you home. Can you sit up bud?" Robby Ray asked as he gently brushed the sand out of Miley's hair.

"I think so." Miley replied as she pushed herself up. For a second though, Miley began to feel dizzy again and she worried that she would pass out in front of her daddy. Miley had decided she wasn't going to tell anyone about her fainting spell earlier in the day. She figured it was just because she was so stressed.

"Hey there, are you okay Miles?" Robbie Ray asked with a look of concern as he reached out to help Miley sit up.

"Yeah, I just sat up to fast is all. I'm okay daddy." Miley attempted a smile, but it came out weak, just like she felt. "I'm just tired is all."

"Bud, why don't I just carry you? You don't look so good baby doll." Robbie Ray could clearly see that Miley was struggling to hold herself up. Miley's skin was so pale, she looked ready to waste away. Miley was really sick.

"Thanks Daddy." Miley said between yawns. For some reason, she was extremely tired.

Robbie Ray picked up his little girl and carried her gently across the beach. She was so light, it startled Robbie Ray. He figured she had a really bad bug or something. He could feel Miley's breathing get deeper as she drifted off to sleep again and he wondered how he hadn't noticed how sick she was this morning.

When Robbie Ray got home, he saw Lilly, Oliver, Jackson and Roxy all sitting on the couch looking worried. As soon as Robbie Ray walked through the door, Jackson was off the couch and running towards Robbie Ray and Miley.

"Is she okay? Dad, is she okay?" Jackson asked as he saw that Miley was asleep.

"She's going to be fine son. She is just sick with something. I'm guessing the flu is all. She'll be fine son." Robbie Ray smiled at the concern Jackson was showing for his sister. The two spent so much of their time fighting, it was nice to be reminded how much they cared for each other.

Robbie Ray told everyone he was just going to put Miley on her bed upstairs and he would be back down. Miley woke up for a minute as he pulled the covers over her.

"Get some sleep now bud." Robbie Ray whispered as he kissed his daughter's forehead.

"I love you daddy." Miley responded in a whisper as she fell back asleep.

"I love you too bud." Robbie Ray said as he shut the door to Miley's room and walked back downstairs.

"Dad, if she ever does that again, I am going to kill her!" Jackson said as Robbie Ray pulled him into a hug.

"Me too son, me too."

"Oh man, when that girl wakes up I am going to give her a Roxy talking to for scaring us all like that. Uh huh! You can be sure of that." Roxy stated, putting her hands on her hips to prove her point and making everyone laugh.

"Thanks so much for helping guys. I don't know why she didn't just come home or call us, but let's wait and talk to her tomorrow when she feels better. And I think I'm also going to give that therapist a call." Robbie Ray said as he headed back into the kitchen. "Now, I think we all deserve a little victory dinner. Pancakes! Jackson set the table. Lilly, Oliver call your parents and tell them you're staying. And Roxy, could you open this Thomas Kemper Root Beer for me? My hands are tired."

"Sure Robbie Ray, blame it on the hands!"

And everyone cheered up as they began to make dinner, the fact that Miley was home and safe making everyone happy. Everyone believed that Miley was going to be okay now. They had agreed on having her talk to a therapist and now the "real" Miley would come back to them. Everything was going to be okay. Little did anyone know that this was only the beginning.


End file.
